Jeffrey Ventura conspired to sell 600 bags of heroin to an undercover detective
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Queens man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for selling hundreds of bags of heroin in Glen Cove in 2016. The NCDA recommended a sentence of 16 years in prison.
Jeffrey Ventura, 30, of Corona, Queens was convicted by a jury on June 29 of:
· Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 2nd Degree (an A-II felony)
· Two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree (a B felony)
· Five Counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree (a B felony)
· Conspiracy in the 2nd Degree (a B felony)
· Two Counts of Conspiracy in the 4th Degree (an E felony)
· Two counts of Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia in the 2nd Degree (an A misdemeanor)
The trial before Judge Meryl Berkowitz lasted nearly two weeks and the jury deliberated for two days.
“We have treatment resources available to addicts and educational programs to prevent drug abuse, but we have no tolerance for the dealers like this defendant who profit from selling this deadly poison in our communities,” DA Singas said. “Our law enforcement partners at every level are committed to ending this epidemic, and drug dealers should be on notice that if they sell heroin in our communities that we will find them, prosecute them, and send them to prison.”
DA Singas said on October 25, 2016, the defendant was found during a traffic stop in Glen Cove with approximately 600 bags of heroin, 19 bags of cocaine and packaging material located inside a trap inside a Nissan Maxima where the entire center console was lifted up. The traffic stop, which happened at a predetermined location, was the result of a 3-month-long joint investigation by the NCDA, DEA and Glen Cove Police Department. The defendant, along with two other co-conspirators, had agreed to sell the heroin to an undercover detective. During the course of the investigation, Ventura also sold 30 bags of heroin to an undercover detective.
Assistant District Attorney Lee Genser of DA Singas’ Special Operations Narcotics and Gangs bureau is prosecuting this case. Ventura is represented by Joseph LoPiccolo, Esq.